Christian News

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed emergency legislation Tuesday that bans protests within 300 feet of a funeral and within an hour from its beginning or end.

CNN reported in a story that the state legislature passed the measure, which targets a Kansas church whose members announced they plan to picket the funerals of the victims of Saturday’s shootings in Tucson.

“Such despicable acts of emotional terrorism will not be tolerated in the State of Arizona,” CNN reported Brewer said in a statement announcing she had signed the bill. “This legislation will assure that the victims of Saturday’s tragic shooting in Tucson will be laid to rest in peace with the full dignity and respect that they deserve.”

The legislation makes protesting too near a funeral a misdemeanor in the state. It went into effect immediately upon Brewer’s signing it.

CNN said the action is in direct response to the Westboro Baptist Church’s announcement that it would picket the funeral of Christina Green, the 9-year-old who was among six people killed during Saturday’s attempted assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona.

The controversial church, based in Topeka, has made its name by staging protests at funerals of people who died of AIDS, gay people, soldiers and even Coretta Scott King. The church was founded by Fred Phelps, 80, and most of its members are part of his extended family.

“Today we have joined together to provide some small measure of comfort for families grieving over the lost of a loved one,” said Democratic State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

CNN said Sinema continued, “During times of grief, families should be free from harassment or intimidation. This law does the right thing by protecting those families.”

“Protesting or picketing outside the funeral of an innocent victim is despicable,” said Republican State House Speaker Kirk Adams. “It’s time to bring Arizona in line with the many other states that protect the sensitivities of victims against groups that use fear and hate to denigrate the lives of Americans.”

Within hours of the church’s announcements, CNN reported, Facebook groups sprang up to plan actions surrounding the funerals that would keep the church members separate from the mourners.

Tucson just isn’t that kind of town, says Christin Gilmer, 26, referring to the actions of the church.

“For something like this to happen in Tucson was a really big shock to us all,” CNN reported she said. “Our nightmare happened when we saw Westboro Baptist Church was going to picket the funerals.”

Gilmer and others are planning an “angel action,” with 8-by-10-foot “angel wings” worn by participants to shield mourners from picketers.

CNN said angel actions were created by Coloradan Romaine Patterson, who was shocked to find the Topeka church and its multicolored signs outside the 1999 funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man beaten and left on a fence to die in Laramie, Wyoming.

The angel action is part of a larger effort, organized by Chelsea Cohen, a 20-year-old University of Arizona senior, aimed at showing what she said are Tucson’s true colors.

“Once I heard that the Westboro Baptist Church was coming, I felt like something should be done to show support for the families,” CNN reported she said. “I don’t have any experience in organizing these things. I thought I might get 50 to 100 people.”

“This isn’t a counter-protest,” she said. “We wanted it to show support for the families and to show that Tucson is there with love and support.”

The groups don’t want to interfere with the funeral in any way, CNN reported Cohen said.

“We plan on being completely silent, and we’re asking people not to bring signs or make comments about the Westboro Baptist Church,” she said.

Jeff Rogers, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, said Tuesday that his organization as well as the local Republican Party also will ask people to line the funeral routes to form a barricade if the church follows through on its planned protest.

Westboro Baptist Church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps, provided CNN with a statement detailing their decision to picket the funerals.

CNN said it was filled with anti-gay, anti-abortion and anti-divorce rhetoric that members have used in the past to justify their pickets – that God hates America because it has turned its back on what they see as God’s way.

“We picket the funerals to make these vital points to the living!” CNN reported Phelps-Roper said. “If you heed, it is life and health and peace and safety.

“God sent the shooter!” the statement continued. “Praise God for ALL his works, and BE YE THANKFUL!”

Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico’s largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master’s degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is “Homeless in the City.”

Additional details on “Homeless in the City” are available at http://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Now You See Me."
Additional details on some of Reynalds' previous books are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.